BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) Receives $20.70 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.70.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BCRX shares. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore started coverage on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Citizens Jmp increased their price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 1st.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.8%

NASDAQ BCRX opened at $8.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of -4.78 and a beta of 0.57. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $6.00 and a 52 week high of $10.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.11.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.98) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($3.04). The business had revenue of $156.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.12 million. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 51.71% and a negative return on equity of 76.36%. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -2.66 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alane P. Barnes sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.15, for a total value of $1,372,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 400,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,666,432.45. This represents a 27.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,463 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,330 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 22,105 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,527 shares during the last quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC increased its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 95,384 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares during the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, that focuses on the discovery and development of novel, oral small‐molecule medicines for rare and serious diseases. Since its founding in 1986, the company has leveraged structure‐based drug design to advance a pipeline of targeted therapeutics designed to address underlying disease mechanisms rather than just treat symptoms.

The company’s first commercial product, Orladeyo (berotralstat), is an oral kallikrein inhibitor approved for the prophylactic treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in both the United States and Europe.